Researchers from the University of California have modified brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to manufacture cannabis compounds including the psychoactive chemical THC in a world’s first. This technology could soon provide researchers with cheaper, more efficient and reliable access to medicinal cannabis compounds that are found in trace amounts in nature.

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Scientists from Europe and the U.S. have managed to restore hearing in an adult mouse model. The mice suffered from so-called DFNB9 deafness, a genetic hearing disorder that represents one of the most frequent causes of congenital deafness. These findings could open doors to new gene therapies for other forms of deafness.

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Indian researchers are criticizing a government proposal by which graduate students who publish in select journals will be paid extra money. Such a practice could degrade the quality of research and increase scientific misconduct, critics say. Months-long protests of academics against the proposal have just concluded in India and new ones are already on the horizon.

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Two green smoothies and strawberries

The Internet has an abundance of articles and posts about cancer. People want to educate themselves more about the harms and threats that simple everyday things may bring, that can potentially cause cancer.

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Humans are social beings and loneliness can have a lasting impact on our physical well-being. According to scientists from the Brain Dynamics Lab, modern life is leading people toward greater isolation which can trigger many disorders. Their plan is to tackle loneliness with medication, and doing so, prevent the onset of harsher psychological problems that may follow. Read more

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai have been the first to clone genetically-altered primates. Five infant macaques share the exact same genes, derived from a fibroblast taken from the skin of a donor monkey. This technique could theoretically produce an unlimited number of replicas and provide clear benefits for medical testing.

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Researchers from Imperial College London have developed a new material that interacts with injured tissues to promote wound healing. It could change the way traditional medical materials interact with the body and revolutionize the way injuries are treated. Read more

Researchers from Cambridge have a new tool in the fight against cancer. Virtual reality (VR) simulation which can show detailed maps of the cells in a tumor. This way structure can be explored and analyzed from an entirely new perspective. Researchers hope their 3D models of cancer could lead to unexpected breakthroughs. Read more

A 1 in 10 chance of surviving – these are the odds victims are facing after being stung by the highly venomous Gadim Scorpion. It alone is responsible for up to 67% of the scorpion-related deaths in Iran. And with Iran being among the top countries in the world most affected by scorpion-related envenomation, these numbers are alarming. Read more

Last year, millions of people in the United States alone have submitted their DNA for analysis. Stanford researchers have found that information people receive not only predicts their risk for disease but, it turns out, in some cases might also have influenced that risk. Read more